APRIL 8, 1952

NEW YORK, Monday—Saturday was a sad day for all of us and I know that all of Fala's friends will also be sad to know that he slept away, and the little dog's story has come to an end.

Many dog lovers know the very lovely story called, "The Hound of Heaven" by Sara Addington. I like to think that Fala, like so many dogs of famous masters whose story is told in that little book, may find his five o'clock walk very pleasant.

Fala is buried near the sun dial in the rose garden which is where, many years ago, our daughter buried her first and favorite dog, Chief, who had been adored by all the family though he was always primarily her dog.

Fala was always my husband's dog. He accepted me, but he was never really my dog. He knew he was important and belonged to someone who was important and kept that knowledge all his life. He lived with dignity and some reticence, conveyed by his attitude toward the rest of us who were, from his viewpoint, mere ordinary mortals.

I left Hyde Park at noon Saturday with my son, John, and his two children, Haven and Nina, to meet Queen Juliana in Kingston. Kingston was the first Dutch capital of New York State and is this year celebrating its 300th anniversary.

There were short ceremonies in the civic auditorium on the Queen's arrival from West Point. The rain beat down upon us and these ceremonies, which had been planned for outdoors, had to be transferred indoors at short notice. But the heavens were kind and it stopped raining just as the Queen was to lay a wreath at the fine statue of Peter Stuyvesant.

We even got into the old Dutch church, where the Queen signed the record, without getting too wet. She was interested in seeing the old stone house where the first legislature met and where the first constitution of the state was drafted.

The Queen was really moved by the warm welcome given her by everyone and by the fact that many people, in spite of the rain, lined the streets to meet her. We drove down some of the back roads in order to pass through those villages that have some of the earliest Dutch houses. At Highland, however, we came back on Route 9-W, crossed the mid-Hudson bridge and went straight to my husband's grave where the Queen wanted to lay a wreath. This we did in the pouring rain. We did not get home until after six o'clock.

A short time later Prince Bernhard arrived from West Point and from then on we had a pleasant, sociable time. Franklin Jr. and Sue and Mr. Dangers, a friend of theirs, came up to dinner and we talked until late at night, covering many subjects.

Sunday morning we went to church in our Episcopal church, which Queen Juliana attended with my husband and myself during the war. We drove home and had a few people at lunch. In the afternoon we had a long walk through the woods but the signs of spring are not very visible as yet. A few little green sprigs poke their heads up, but for the rest it is still a wintry landscape. There is no snow but much water and mud, and we returned very wet, indeed. We changed hurriedly to meet some neighbors and friends who came to tea at five o'clock.

I hope the Queen had a pleasant and restful weekend with us, for I know that from now on she will have a fairly strenuous trip. For us it was a joy to have her and Prince Bernhard. They are such fine young people, carrying their burdens of responsibility with gallant courage.

E.R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)